Vehicles are supplied with driver side airbag modules; generally the driver side airbag module is located in the center of the steering wheel. This is also the same location where a horn-activating switch has traditionally been mounted. In addition, other inflatable cushions or airbag modules have been installed in vehicles.
Various mounting mechanisms have been used for securing airbag modules to support structures in a vehicle. Non-limiting examples of such support structures include steering wheels and vehicle instrument panels. In one known mounting mechanism, mounting bolts are passed through openings in the vehicle support structures wherein a threaded portion of the mounting bolts engages a complimentary nut or threaded portion of the airbag module.
Another mechanism for use with a driver side airbag module includes a means for providing a horn activation circuit wherein horn contact members are forced into contact in order to complete a horn activation circuit.
In addition, increasingly higher demands are being made on electrical contacts, in particular horn contacts in steering wheel units for motor vehicles. This applies in particular for so-called floating horn systems in which the airbag module serves to actuate the vehicle horn and for this purpose is fixed to the steering wheel so that it is movable in the direction of the steering wheel axis—i.e. “floatingly”. The higher requirements relate in particular to the working life and the electrical operability of the contacts. Contact mechanisms electrically insulated from the steering wheel are increasingly demanded which, in the case of the horn systems which are of principal interest are also known under the catchword “isolated floating horn”. In such contact mechanisms, so-called open contacts can in particular to be used such as for example contact rivets or, with higher switching demands, encapsulated microswitches.
In known steering wheel units an enormous degree of cost and complexity is sometimes used for the electrical insulation of the contacts, which considerably increases the manufacturing costs. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an apparatus and method for providing a horn contact mechanism that uses a minimal amount of components and is easy to install and manufacture.